Lessons in Love
by Demented Sorceress Of Darkness
Summary: Lord Grayson charmed Lady Kori out of her innocene,to win a wager!So now the plan is simple,she will use every seductive wile she knows to win his heart,then break it.But when he asks for her hand in marrige,she is forced to think.Does he really love her?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey to all you dudes and dudettes out there! This is my first story and 99.99999999 of it is from Susanne Enoch's 'The rake' So all the credit goes to her really... anyways on with the story!**

Lady Kori Anders burst through the drawing room doors, her arburn hair drenched with rain

"Did you hear what that man did this time?"

Her two best friends, Raven Roth and Terra Markov exchanged glances that she could have read from a mile away. Of course they knew precisely of whom she discussing. How could they not, when he was the worst man in England?

"What now?" Terra asked, putting down the cards she'd been shuffling. Shaking raindrops from the hem of her gown, Kori plunked herself onto the third chair at the gaming table.

"A lady and her maid got caught in the rain this morning. They were walking home when _that man_ drove by in his coach at full tilt and sent a cascade of street water at them" "She preferred not to tell me her name" Kori added, looking at their quizzical expressions. She pulled of her gloves and slapped them onto the table "It's fortunate that the rain had just begun, or he might have drowned her!"

"He didn't even stop?" Raven asked as she poured her a hot cup of herbal tea

"And get wet himself, heavens no!" Kori dropped a lump of sugar into the tea and stirred vigourously. Men were so maddening! "If the morning had been dry, he would have stopped to let the lady and her maid ride with him, but for most men 'nobility' is not a state of mind. It is a state of comfort"

"A state of monetary comfort" Raven amended

Terra refilled her own cup

"While you too are entirely too clynical, I have to agree that society seems to have arrogance when a gentleman has money and power. True nobility has all but vanished. In the days of King Arthur, inspiring a women's admiration was at _least _as important as slaying a dragon" In miss Markov's optimistic imagination, nearly everything tied into tales of chivalry-but this time she had a point.

"Yes exactly" Kori said "When did dragons become more important than maidens?"

"Dragons guard treasure" Raven said jumping on analogy, "which is why females with large dowries can rate almost as large as dragons"

"It should be _us_ who are the treasures, dowries or not" Kori insisted "I think the difficulty is that we're more complicated than wagering or horse races. Understanding a female is beyond the capacity of most men." Terra bit into a chocolate tea cake

"I agree. It certainly takes more than a sword singing in my direction to get my attention" She chuckled

"Terra!" Blushing bright red, Raven fanned her face "For heavens sake!." Georgina sat forward

"No. Terra is right. A gentleman can't win a female's heart the same way they win a...a boat race on thames. They need to know that there are different rules involved. For instance, I wouldn't want anything to do with a gentleman who has a habit of breaking ladies hearts, no matter how handsome he was or how much wealth and power he had"

"And that we have a mind of our own for heavens sake!" Terra set down her tea cup with a clatter as an exclamation point. Raven stood and went to the desk at the other side of the room

"We should write these down" She said, giving each of them a peice of paper to write on "The three of us weild a great deal of influence, particularly with the so-called gentleman to whom these rules would apply"

"And we would be doing other ladies a service" Kori said, her anger ebbing as the plan began to take shape.

"But a list won't do anything for anyone but ourselves" Terra took the pencil Raven handed her. "If that."

"Oh yes it will, when we put our rules in practice" Kori countered "I propose that we each choose some man and teach him what he needs to know to properly impress a lady"

"Yes, by God" Terra thumped her hands on the table in agreement. Kori chuckled darkly as she began writing

"We should get our books published, 'Lessons in love' by three ladies of distinction"

_Kori's list_

_1 Never break a ladies heart_

_2 Always tell the truth, no matter what you think the lady wants to hear_

_3 Flowers are nice, make sure they're the ladies favourite kind. Roses are espicially nice_

**I wasn't going introduce Richard right now, but the chapter is too short so...here he is!**

Lady Kori Anders watched Richard enter the ballroom and wondered why the soles of his boots didn't smoke, he was so well traveled to the path of Hell. The rest of him certainly smoldered, dark and devilishly seductive, as he made his way toward the gaming rooms.

"I really do hate that man" she murmured

"Beg pardon?" Lord Harper loped by her, the country dance sending him leaping in a circle with her in the center

"Nothing my Lord, I am only thinking out loud"

"Well share your thoughts with me" He touched her hand, turned and vanished for a moment behind some of the other dancers as they wound through the line again "Nothing pleases me so much as the sound of your voice"

_Except perhaps the sound of the gold clinking in my purse_. Kori sighed, she was becoming far too jaded

"You are too kind, my lord"

"That is an impossibility where you're concerned" They circled around again and again and Kori scowled at Richard's broad back as the scoundrel strolled out of sight, probably to go smoke a cheroot and drink with his blackguard friends. The evening had been so pleasant before Richrd had intruded. Her aunt was hosting the soiree so she couldn't imagne that anyone had even invited him.

Her dance partner joined her again and she favoured the handsome, red haired baron with a determined smile. She would just have to put that devil Richard out of his thoughts

"You are energetic today, Lord Harper"

"You inspire me" he said, sounding winded. The dance came to a close. While the baron dug in his waistcoat for a handkerchief, Kori caught sight of Raven and Terra standing with their heads together at the refreshment table

"Thank you my Lord" she said to her partner before he could offer to take her on a stroll around the room "You've exhausted me beyond recall. If you'll excuse me?"

"Oh. I-of course my lady"

"Roy Harper?" Terra exclaimed from behing her ivory ribbed fan as Kori joined them

"Don't ask"

"So who are you going to choose for your lesson? Harper?" Raven interrupted. Kori and Terra rolled their eyes, that was all she had been going on about since they had made their plan

"To be honest, I'm not sure he'd be worth the effort. In fact-" A movement by the stairs caught her attention and Richard reentered the ballroom, a woman on his hand. Not just any woman, she noted with a slight scowl, Kitten Moth.

"In fact what?" Terra followed her gaze "Oh, dear. Who invited Garyson here?"

"Not me that's for certain" Miss Moth couldn't be above 18 years old, a good 12 years younger that Richard. In years of sin though, he surpassed her by centuries. Kori had heard rumors that the viscount was courting someone, and with her families money and her pert brunette innocence, Kitten was no doubt the target, the poor thing. Richard took both of Kittens hands in his, and Kori gritted her teeth. The viscount said something and, with a jaunty grin, released her hands and strolled away. Kittens face flushed, then paled, and she hurried from the room.

_Well that blasted made one thing clear_. Kori stood, facing her friends again and stated, surprised at her calm determination

"I have a different student in mind, one in a serious need of a good lesson" Terras eyes widened

"You're not thinking about Lord Grayson are you? You hate him, you barely speak to him" Across the room Richard's deep laugh sounded, and Kori's blood heated to near boiling point. Obliviously he didn't care a fig that he had just wounded a young girls feelings, or worse, broken another heart. Oh yes, he badly needed a lesson. He was the reason they had made the list in the first place. And she knew the exact lesson to teach him, In fact she could think of no one better qualified to deliver it that she.

"Yes Grayson. And obliviously, I'll have to break his heart to do it, though I'm not even certain that he has one. But-"

"Shh" Raven hissed making a cutting gesture with her hands

"Who has one what?" Her spine stiffening at the low drawl, Kori turned around

"I wasn't talking to you my Lord" Ricard Garyson looked down at her, his light blue eyes amused. He couldn't have a heart, if he was able to smile that charming, sensuous smile right after reducing another woman to tears and flight.

"And here I was" he said "Only approaching to tell you how remarkably lovely you look this evening, Lady Kori" She smiled seething inside. Now he was complimenting her while poor Kitten was without a doubt in some dark corner, weeping

"I did choose this ensamble with you in mind, my lord" she said smoothing her silk burgundy skirt "Do you truly like it?" The viscount was no fool, and though his expression didn't change, he took half a step back. She hadn't brought her fan along tonight , though Raven's was in easy reach if she changed her mind about rapping him across the knuckles.

"I do my lady" His sweeping glance took her in from head to toe, leaving her with the unsettling feeling that he knew whether her shift was silk or cotton

"Then this is the one I'll wear to your funeral" she smiled sweetly at him

"Kori" Terra murmured, taking her arm. Richrd lifted an eyebrow

"Who say's you'll be invited?" With a devilishly grin he turned on his heel. "Good evening ladies" _Oh did he ever need to be taught a lesson!_

"How are your aunts?" Kori asked at his backside. He stopped and with a slight heaitation, turned around

"My aunts?"

"Yes I didn't see them this evening. How are they?"

"Aunt Edwina's quite well" he said, his expression weary "Aunt Millie is recovering, though not as quickly as we'd like. Why?" _Ha_ she had no intention of telling him why. Let him wonder until she had the details of her plan layed out

"No reason. Please give them my compliments"

"I will. Ladies"

"Lord Grayson" As soon as he was out of sight Terra let go of her arm

"So thats how you make a gentleman fall in love with you. I was beginning to wonder what I did wrong"

"Oh hush. I can't simply fall into his arms. Anyways I have to go, its getting late and I need to figure out what to do by tomorrow. But" Kori put on a posh accent "You may call on me tomorrow" That said Kori started to go to her carrige cautiously, if he knew that she was leaving so early, it would only add to his suspicions. One of his more annoying traits was that one never knew where or when he might turn up. _Drat_, that reminded her that she had forgotten to ask him whether he'd been invited or had bullied his way into her aunt's party. As she climbed into her carrige, she thought of the impossible task that lay in front of her.

Making Richard Grayson fall in love with her was risky for more than one reason, but it was a lesson he badly needed to learn. He'd toyed with one heart too many, and she would make certain that he would never do it again.

Ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh.My.God! Thank you soooo much for the reviews! Every single one of them! This time period is like in the olden times when people used to go to soirees, sorta like the tudor times but waayy after that. On with the show!**

Richard Grayson looked up from the London _times _as the brass knocker banged against his front door. The price of barley was falling again, just two months short of when his own crops would be ripe. He sighed. The losses would probably wipe out the profits he'd managed to wring from the late-spring harvest. The knocker sounded again

"Alfred, the door" Richard called, taking a swallow of the hot, strong coffee.As the rapping sounded once more, he folded the paper and stood. Alfred had better been polishing the silver somewhere and not sleeping in one of the sitting rooms, as the old fellow had the alarming tendency to do. As for the other servants, they no doubt had their hands full with his entire family in residence. Either that, or they had fled without bothering to give notice. With the way his luck had been running lately, there were probably a herd of soliciters out there waiting to take him into custody for unpaid bills

"Yes" he said pulling it open "What-"

"Good morning lord Grayson" lady Kori Anders curtisied, the skirt of her dark green morning dress flowing around her and a matching bonnet framing her arburn hair. Richard snapped his jaw shut. Ordinarily, a woman so lovely standing on his door step would be a good thing, but there was nothing quite ordinary quite however about Kori Anders

"What the devil are you doing here?" he asked, noting that her maid waited a few steps behind her "You're not armed are you?"

"Only with my wits" she returned. He'd been wounded by her wits on more than one occasion

"And I repeat, what are you doing here?"

"Because I wish to call on your aunts. Please stand aside" Gatering her skirt, she brushed past him into the foyer. Her skin smelled of lavendar

"Why don't you come in?" he asked belatedly

"You're a very poor butler you know" she said over her shoulder "Show me to your aunts, if you please" Folding his arms across his chest, Richard leaned against the door frame

"Since I'm a poor butler, I suggest you go and find them yourself" In truth, he blazed with curiosity to discover why she had chosen to call at Wayne Manor. She'd known the location for years, yet this was the first time she'd chosen to darken his doorstep.

"Has anyone told you that you are unbearably rude?" she returned, facing him again

"Why, yes. You have, on several occasions, as I recall. If you care to apologise for that, however, I will be glad to escort you wherever you wiish to go" A flush crept up her cheeks, colouring her delecate skin

"I will never apologise to you" she snapped "And you may go straight to Hades" He hadn't expected her to apologise, yet he couldn't help suggesting it every so often.

"Very well upstairs, first door on the left. I will be in Hades, if you should require my services" Turning on his heel, Richardexcited the hallway for the breakfast room andhis newspaper. As her footsteps receded up the stairs he could hear her cursing him under her breath. he allowed himself a small smile as he sat back, the paper unopened before him. Kori Anders had come across mayfair to call on his aunts, though she'd seen them less than a fortnight ago.

"What the devil is she up to?" Given their past, he couldn't trust her as much as he could throw her. Richard stood again, leaving the remains on of his breakfeast on a table, in case one of his sevants should decide to make an appearance and throw them away. Damnanation, where was everyone this morning?

"Aunt millie?" he called, toppling the stairs and angling to the left "Aunt Edwina?" he pushed into the bright frilly room "Why I hadn't realised we had a visitor this morning, and who might this charming young lady be?"

"Oh shut up" Kori sniffed and turned her back on him. Millie poked her walking cane in his direction

"You know very well who's come to visit us. Why didn't you tell us that she'd sent her regards last night, you evil boy?" Richard dogded her cane and swept in to kiss his aunt on her round pale cheeks.

"Because you were asleep when I returned and you informed Alfred that I shouldn't disturb you this morning" bubbling laughter erupted from her ample chest

"So I did. Fetch me a biscuit, Edwina dear" the shadow in the corner rustled into motion

"Of course sister. And you Kori, have you had your breakfeast yet?"

"I have, Miss Edwina" she replied with such warmth in her honeyed voice that Richard was startled. He, she and warmth didn't often appear together.

"And please stay where you are, I'll see to miss Millie"

"You're a treasure Kori, I've often said that to your aunt Fredrica"

"You're too kind Aunt Edwina, If I were truly a treasure, I would have called on you before now, instead of making you travel all the way to see aunt Fradrica and me" Kori rose, treading hard on Richard's toe

"How do you take your tea, Miss Millie? Miss Edwina?"

"Oh do stop with the mis this and miss that. I feel like I'm and ancient spinster" Millie chuckled

"Nonsense" Richard interrupted with a smile, refraining from bending down and rubbing his foot. Apparantly Kori had taken to walking in iron-heeled shoes for she couldn't weigh more that seven stones. She was tall but slender with rounded hips and full breasts that he was so partial to on a young women. Which was what had gotten him into trouble with her in the first place

"You both are as young and lovely as spring time"

"Lord Grayson" she began, sounding pleasant and polite as she distributed tea and biscuits, though she offered none to him "I was under the impression that you had little wish to join us this morning" So she wanted to be rid of him. All the more reason for him to stay, although he had no intention of allowing her to think that he was the least bit interested about whatever she might be gossiping about

"I was looking for my brothers" he improvised " They are to accompany me to Tattersall's this morning"

"I thought I heard them in the ballroom" Edwina said. In her ever present black clothes and seated in the one corner where the sun didn't shine, she looked like one of shakespear's characters with spectacles. "For some reason all of the footmen were there as well"

"Hm. I hope Bradshaw's not trying to blow something up again. If you'll excuse me ladies?" As Kori walked back to her seat she tried stepping on him again but her was ready this time and backed out the door before she could connect.

Though Kori had long ago made a point of staying as far away from the Grayson's as possible, she'd always had a liking for Millie and Edwina and for her plan to work, she needed to live under their roof, it would have been wonderful living with them, if only _he_ didn't live here. Ironically, he was the reason she needed to live here.

"So with Ryan married" she explained "My aunt has no real need for a companion, she and her daughter in law are getting on splendidly and I don't want to be in their way"

"You don't mean to return back to Tamaran now, not while it's the season"

"Oh no, my parents have three more children waiting for their debuts, they hardly want me dragging along, setting a bad example. Even Komi's a bad example and she's married!" Edwina patted her arm

"You are not a bad example, Kori we never married and we never suffered from lack of husband"

"Not that we lacked beaux, of course. We just never found the right ones" Millie inturrupted "Although I do miss dancing" she said sending a pointed glance at Edwina, although Kori had no idea why.

"That's why I'm here really" Kori said, taking a deep breath. This was it, this was the first move on the chessboard "I thought you'd like someone here to help you get about-"

"Oh yes!" Edwina interruped with the most enthusiasm she had ever heard from her mouth "Another female in the house would be splendid. There are too many boys in this house by far. And it would be a relief to have a civilised conversation for once" Kori smiled, taking Millie's hand

"So what do you say Aunt Millie?"

"Oh I'm sure you have other things to do than stay with a boring old spinster" Millie smiled

"Nosense! I will make it my duty to see you walking again" Kori declared

"Say yes! Millie! say yes!" Edwina interjected

"Then, I say yes" Millie smiled, color touching her pale cheeks. Edwina stood

"I'll send for Alfred to bring all your stuff here. I'm afraid that all the rooms in the west wing are occupied, with all the brothers here, do you mind the morning sun?"

"Of course not. I rise early" How could she sleep knowing that Richard Grayson was under the same roof? She must be insane to do this, but if she didn't, who would?

"But I was under the impression that you and Richard didn't get on well" Edwina said, her dark eyes regarding her from over the table

"We have had our differences, yes" Kori started, choosing her words carefully. Richard would no doubt be after his aunts for information about her visits and he neede to know as little as possible about her plan "But I don't see why I should avoid spending time with you"

"Well, I hope you know what you're getting yourself into" Millie glanced sideways at Edwina "Indeed I do"

**So guys what do you think? The next chapter would be with Kori living in the Grayson's house with Richard and his 3 brothers (which I haven't introduced yet) and of course Aunt Millie and Aunt Edwina. I hope you like it!**


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